Advance copies of this statement are made available to the
press under lock-up conditions with the explicit
understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m.
Eastern Daylight Time.
Statement of
Philip L. Rones
Deputy Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Friday, May 4, 2007
Nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 88,000 in April
to 137.7 million. In the first 4 months of 2007, payroll
job growth averaged 129,000 per month, down from 189,000 per
month in 2006. In April, job gains continued in some
service-providing industries, while employment fell in
retail trade and manufacturing. The unemployment rate, at
4.5 percent, was essentially unchanged over the month and
has ranged from 4.4 to 4.6 percent since last September.
Health care employment grew by 37,000 in April and by
362,000 over the year. Job gains occurred throughout the
industry. Food services and drinking places added 25,000
jobs in April and 336,000 over the last year. Within
professional and business services, employment increased in
computer systems design and in management and technical
consulting; however, employment services continued to lose
jobs. Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment
continued to trend up in wholesale trade and in social
assistance.
Several industries had significant job losses in April.
Employment in general merchandise stores declined by 41,000,
following a gain of 30,000 in March. Credit intermediation
shed 14,000 jobs in April; commercial banking accounted for
over half of the loss.
Manufacturing employment continued to fall in April
(-19,000), reflecting losses in machinery, motor vehicles
and parts, and textile mills. The return of 6,500
shipbuilding workers from a strike partly offset the
declines elsewhere in manufacturing. Average weekly hours
in factories fell by 0.1 hour in April to 41.1 hours;
factory overtime also was down by 0.1 hour to 4.2 hours.
Construction employment was basically flat in April,
with no significant movements among the component indus-
tries. Thus far in 2007, there has been essentially no
net change in construction employment. In 2006, con-
struction job growth averaged 11,000 per month.
Average hourly earnings for private production and
nonsupervisory workers rose by 4 cents to $17.25 in April.
Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.7
percent, down from the recent high of 4.3 percent in
December.
Results from the survey of households showed that both
the unemployment rate, at 4.5 percent, and the number of
unemployed, at 6.8 million, were essentially unchanged over
the month. Civilian employment fell by 468,000 in April,
with the decline concentrated among adult women. The
proportion of the overall population that was employed--63.0
percent--fell by 0.3 percentage point.
In summary, nonfarm payroll employment edged up by
88,000 in April, and the unemployment rate, at 4.5 percent,
remained in the narrow range that has held since September.